


Live to the Hilt

by heartunsettledsoul



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-11 16:08:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11717826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartunsettledsoul/pseuds/heartunsettledsoul
Summary: Betty and Jughead have never told anyone they were each other’s first kiss.





	1. Seventh Grade

**Author's Note:**

> A variation on this post / one of the comics https://jeemyjamz.tumblr.com/post/163810191385/bughead-in-the-comics-from-play-it-safe-archies

Betty was twelve when she first starting hearing the whispers around school about who kissed whom. Hushed giggling in the girls’ room about parties that Betty was never invited to where Spin the Bottle was the game du jour, or even Seven Minutes in Heaven when the parties were hosted by classmates whose parents had unlocked liquor cabinets. 

The squeals would echo around the dingey tile walls: “His hand was  _ where?!”  _ “And he used tongue!” Betty would flush in embarrassment, both for the girl that had been subjected to Reggie Mantle’s tongue and for herself for not having any secrets to share with them. She was desperate to join in these conversations that slowly began to dominate the halls of Riverdale Middle School; everyone’s hormones were raging, and it seemed that everyone in the sixth grade except Betty had begun to act on their hormonal impulses. 

Puberty had not been kind to Betty Cooper. She was still growing out of her baby fat (much to Alice Cooper’s chagrin, as she was constantly reminded) and she wore a simple, cotton bra more out of propriety than necessity. Betty didn’t have particular urge to kiss anybody—well, she had an urge to kiss Archie Andrews but she tried to ignore that to the best of her abilities. And it wasn’t an urge, so much as a daydream: she and Archie, next door neighbors since they could walk, would fulfill their childhood sweetheart prophecy by going to all the high school dances together, falling in love, and getting married. Betty thought about kissing Archie in the grander scheme of their future, but if she were being entirely honest, Archie’s lips always looked chapped and that was not appealing to Betty in the slightest. 

But Betty also did not want to wait until her fanciful romance started for her first kiss. At the very least, she thought, she should know what she was doing when she kissed Archie for the first time. So as the whispered kissing stories slowly evolved into lowered voices in the hallways as Betty and her classmates aged a little and reached the seventh grade, Betty told herself she would make sure she had her first kiss that year. And she started scouting out potential options everywhere she went.

 

The summer after sixth grade had finally seen her growth spurt—Betty grew four inches and dropped some of the baby fat from her face and stomach (not that Alice stopped making comments, because god forbid puberty give her daughter a set of  _ normally proportioned hips) _ . Some of her favorite sweaters stopping fitting, not because she was chubby, but because her chest finally filled out. Betty still poked and prodded herself self-consciously in the mirror, as only Alice Cooper’s daughters could when they were subjected to constant critique, but she at least felt more confident in herself as she fixed her ponytail in the bathroom mirrors at school while girls like Cheryl Blossom huddled in packs and made snide comments. 

“Not really your color, Betty,” Cheryl purred in a saccharine voice on her way out of the gym locker room while Betty reapplied her favorite lip gloss. Betty frowned to herself, capped the tube, and looked at the name. Pixie Pink. She dropped it back in her school bag, vowing to ask Polly for suggestions at home. 

All the other girls wore pink lip gloss too, and Betty wanted to make sure she was ready and perfect for the precise moment her first kiss opportunity came up. Granted, it probably wasn’t going to happen right after third period gym, but you never know. Since everybody’s growth spurts, gym class became the time where the boys flexed their muscles and showed off their athletic chops while the girls stroked the boys’ egos by giggling from across the squeaky gym floor. Betty found the whole thing tiresome and often found herself sitting on the bleachers with the rest of the crowd that did not feel inclined to play basketball or to giggle at the basketball players. 

So she often found herself sitting with Ethel Muggs, Jughead Jones, and whoever happened to be injured that week. She still  _ watched  _ the boys play basketball, because of course she was still trying to figure out who was her best option for a first kiss. She’d considered Reggie simply because she knew he would have happily kissed anyone that moved if they’d asked (as long as that anyone had an inclination to wear skirts and watch him play sports), but ultimately decided against putting her name on the long list of Reggie’s kissing conquests. Still, she had to admit that Reggie’s lips at least never looked chapped. She could not say the same for Archie, no matter how pointedly she always refreshed her chapstick or lip gloss when they would do homework at his kitchen table. 

Betty was still zipping her backpack closed, second guessing her lip gloss color, when she walked out of the girls’ locker room and directly into Jughead. The doors to each locker room were across from each other, so it’s a wonder these collisions didn’t happen on a regular basis. Betty bounced back from her collision with Jughead, already two apologies in to her string of I’m Sorrys, before noticing who it was. 

“Juggie! Shoot, I’m so sorry!” She noticed the tips of his ears had gone slightly red and tilted her head curiously. His eyes were still wide and startled from Betty crashing into him, and he immediately shifted his gaze to the ground when he saw her staring, the red spreading from his ears to his neck. 

“No worries, Betty,” he mumbled, picking up his pace and shuffling away from her. But not before Betty’s eyes had flicked to his mouth as he spoke. His lips looked  _ very  _ soft. Betty blushed herself, and then jumped as the second bell rang. She was about to be late for math and took off running in the opposite direction that Jughead was going in. She let herself have one glance over her shoulder at Jughead’s retreating back, ears still slightly pink underneath his trademark beanie. 

“Hmm,” she murmured to herself. “Jughead Jones. Alright.” 

Betty started watching Jughead more after that day. They shared three classes together: gym, science, and art. She paid close attention to him on the rare occasions he actually spoke in class, staring at the way his mouth moved as he talked. In two weeks, she had only noticed his lips were chapped once and that had been on a particularly windy day. Even her lips were chapped from the walk to school that morning. 

On the third week, they had finished a unit in science class and were due to rotate lab partners for the next one. When Mr. Greene announced it was time for lab, Betty spun around quickly in her chair. “Jughead!” He was sitting a few rows behind her and looked up sharply from the notebook he was doodling in. He blinked at her, confused. She smiled encouragingly at him, “Lab partners?” Jughead blinked again, the tips of his ears starting to go red again, and nodded. 

The lab that day was a little on the complicated side, so Betty had to forgo her staring at Jughead to flit around the lab table, reading instructions and measuring liquids. She looked up from the handout in surprise when he finished her sentence and handed her the next beaker. “Ten milliliters of vinegar, right? I pay attention too.” He was smirking at her from under his goggles and she felt her stomach drop out from her body. He had a  _ very  _ nice smile. 

Betty blushed and took the beaker from him. Their fingers touched ever so slightly and she thought she might faint.  _ Jughead Jones.  _ He was still smiling at her, though softer now. She cleared her throat and busied herself among the beakers and test tubes, smiling to herself. 

The days kept flying by and Betty was finding herself fascinated with Jughead. Like Archie, she’d known Jughead practically since they could all walk, but she never thought of him in the same way she had thought of Archie. And now she was completely confused as to  _ why  _ she had done that. Yes, Jughead was standoffish and a little rude to people, but he was never that way with her. He seemed to only tolerate two of his classmates: Archie and, by proxy, Betty. Sure, Betty didn’t spend nearly as much time with Jughead as she did with Archie, given that they did not live within one hundred yards of each other, but Archie spent a lot of time with both of his best friends. They were a content group of three growing up: Archie always the popular kid, Betty getting recognition for her hard work and perfectionism, and Jughead circling in their orbit but never quite getting the same positive attention. He was smart and kind (or, at least, kind to people he liked), but he would forever be the loner from the wrong side of the tracks in the eyes of their classmates. Betty was always aware of that quiet truth, but it didn’t frustrate her as much as it did now. 

Regardless, Betty was enjoying her increased time with Jughead. He was growing on her, and he had noticed. For as many times as Jughead caught Betty staring at him (or, at his lips), Betty caught him watching her. It would seem that they shared a mutual appreciation for each other. 

Betty, being Betty, hadn’t forgotten her promise to herself to make sure she had her first kiss this year. But she was no longer obsessed with the concept so that she could be fully prepared for when her Archie daydream came to fruition. Now she just wanted to kiss someone. And she was 110% sure that someone was Jughead. 

Which is why, a few weeks later, Betty had sat herself quite close to Jughead on the same side of the Andrews kitchen table. She, Jughead, and Archie were doing homework together—as she and Archie always did—but Jughead had been coming along more often lately. And now they, as lab partners, had their lab write-up due the next day, so Betty was taking full advantage of the situation. She was more than happy to be able to keep looking at Jughead’s face, eyes, lips. His lips really did look so soft. 

They were poring over both their lab notebooks; Betty’s, pristine with precise notes and numbers, and Jughead’s, full of water smudges, doodles, and notably lacking any of their experiment’s results. “ _ Juggie,”  _ Betty sighed. “You were supposed to actually write all of this down! You’re not going to get credit if you don’t have the lab notes.” He groaned in response, but didn’t seem all that concerned. 

“Whoops,” he said sheepishly. 

Across the table, Archie slammed his math textbook closed. “If I look at one more equation, I’m going to poke myself in the eye with this pencil.” Betty giggled. Jughead rolled his eyes. “I think I’ll take Vegas for a walk, you guys wanna come?” 

Betty lit up. She had an idea. A really good one. 

“Nah, Jug and I are almost done with this lab report. I’d rather just finish it now.” 

Jughead looked over to her in surprise, and Archie shrugged as if to say  _ suit yourself.  _ Archie whistled for Vegas who came rushing into the kitchen with his leash in his mouth. Clearly, he was ready for the walk.

When the door slammed shut behind Archie, Jughead turned to Betty. “Betty, we’re nowhere  _ near  _ done with this—” 

Staring him square in the eye, Betty put her hand on Jughead’s cheek, leaned forward, and pressed her lips against his. Cutting him off mid-sentence resulted in a muted mumble. It took about ten seconds for Jughead to get over his surprise. He put a tentative hand on Betty’s shoulder and leaned into the kiss. They sat that way for long moment. Betty was pretty sure all the girls at all the parties did more than this, but this felt good enough. 

They broke apart and when Betty looked at him, Jughead’s eyes were closed. Betty blinked, biting her lip, and worrying what he might say. He opened his eyes and stared at her before opening his mouth.

“Your lips are really soft.” 


	2. Sophomore Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll just go with assuming s1 takes place sophomore year. Un-beta'd so forgive any errors.

For the briefest of moments after the first time Jughead kisses her, Betty was sent back to the seventh grade: shy, determined, and completely enamored with Jughead. Her brain was spinning out of control, one part hyperaware of the fact that Jughead— _ Jughead _ —is in her bedroom, holding her, and kissing her, the other part running far quicker than its usual million miles an hour. 

Her brain eventually came to a screeching halt at  _ the car, Polly mentioned a car _ , but Betty wanted to live in that moment forever. His lips were still just as soft as they were back in middle school, but the callouses on the palms of his hand are rough against her own soft skin and she wanted to melt into the damn floor. They had never really spoken about their first kiss after it happened back in the seventh grade, each going on their usual path and shyly smiling at each other for the first few days afterward until eventually it faded into the background. She wished she could go back in time and tell her anxious, self-conscious younger self that  _ yes, you might still be anxious and self-conscious but you’re smart and strong and one day that boy you think you maybe sort of might like is going to make you swoon in your bedroom and it will all feel okay.  _

Betty wanted to crawl inside this moment and live there forever. The heat of Jughead’s hands reached all the way from her face and neck to her toes, the light pressure of his lips against hers, the overwhelming sense of peace she suddenly felt. 

And then her brain just had to catch up with her. “ _ The car!”  _ When he smirked at her in response, she melted. 

 

 

They don’t get much time to themselves in the whirlwind that follows the discovery and subsequent destruction of Jason and Polly’s getaway, but every time Jughead brushes his hand against the small of her back or smiles at her so hard that his eyes crinkle, Betty wants to press pause on the world. Amidst the chaos and absolute insanity of what was happening in Riverdale, Betty still found a corner of her brain that was almost ( _ almost)  _ willing to just not care. To just curl up under Jughead’s arm and breathe evenly and talk about anything that wasn’t Jason Blossom’s murder or her sister being locked away and pregnant. Hell, even just to talk about their homework. 

She wanted to actually be a teenager with a boyfriend. ...if that’s what they were. They hadn’t even had time to talk about it. All Betty know is that she wanted Jughead to kiss her again and when they were in close proximity she had difficulty not taking his hand in hers. She wanted to stay in his calming presence until the end of time; even when the anxiety starting to crawl up the base of her spine and her breathing came in spurts, if Jughead was near her, she could keep enough presence of mind to not dig her nails into her palms to the point of blood. 

He made her better. 

“What are you thinking, Betty?” Betty started, suddenly realizing that Jughead had been trying to catch her attention for several moments. He was escorting her home from a milkshake and Blue & Gold game-planning session at Pop’s and had noticed that she wasn’t quite all there as their steps echoed through the quiet night. 

Shaken out of her reverie, Betty stopped to smile at him. “About our first kiss, actually.” 

Jughead laced his fingers through hers before answering. “Ah, but  _ which  _ first kiss?”

“And here I thought you had forgotten seventh grade, Juggie,” she teased lightly. 

His eyes widened in sincerity. “Betty Cooper,  _ no one  _ could forget being kissed by you. You made my whole damn  _ year  _ that day.” 

Betty looked at the ground, blushing. “I thought you thought I was insane.” Her voice was quiet and the insecurities gave it weight, breaking through her carefully curated exterior. Her inner seventh grader was still so afraid that Jughead would realize she was a storm of chaos underneath her perfect facade, would decide he had enough going on without taking on her bucketful of crazy. The hitch in her voice made Jughead want to wrap her in his arms and never let go, shielding her from the world until she was able to realize she had enough strength within her to beat back the noise. 

With his free hand, Jughead lifted her chin slightly to look her in the eye. “Betty, I have been waiting to kiss you again every single day since then. You are the farthest thing from insane.” 

Smiling and perching on tip toes, Betty closed the distance and kissed him hard and quick before bouncing ahead on the sidewalk and dragging him behind her. “You might wind up driving  _ me  _ crazy, Cooper,” he groaned. 

  
  


They grew more comfortable in each other’s spaces as the days went on, gentle touches on arms in the halls between classes, good-natured poking and teasing in the Blue & Gold offices, and more frequent kisses when they were alone. It was intoxicating to Betty and she wished with so much of her heart that they weren’t both drowning the noise of the world around them. 

Between Polly’s return and the growing tension from the increasingly-present Serpents, it was hard for the teens to have more than just brief moments of respite to learn who they were around each other now. They had currently been enjoying one of those rare moments at Pop’s when Veronica, Kevin, and Archie came through the door and pushed themselves into the booth. Jughead withdrew his hand from where it had been holding Betty’s across the table as Kevin budged him closer to the wall and blew a frustrated breath out of his nose. Betty smiled reassuringly at him and nudged his foot under the table before turning to Veronica to listen intently. Jughead’s ears went slightly pink.

“Kevin was just telling us about his new tall, dark, and mysterious boy toy,” Veronica said pointedly. He feigned innocence in response. 

“I was merely saying that I have been with worse kissers. No one should be subjected to some of the terrible kissing I have experienced.” Kevin stole a french fry off Betty’s plate and popped it into his mouth. “Need I remind anyone of the oh-so-romantic, let-me-drown-you-in-my-saliva first kiss that I had?” 

“Yes, yes we’ve all heard your horror stories, Kev, no one wants a refresher,” Betty giggled. 

Veronica looked affronted. “Well  _ I  _ wanted to hear them. But I doubt it tops mine. Sam Stafford. Bit my lip so hard I had to get stitches.” 

The group at the table all froze in shock and it was Jughead of all people to break the silence. His laughter broke free in a loud guffaw that sent Betty into giggles, with Veronica not far behind. “It was a nightmare!” she shrieked. “I had a fat lip for  _ weeks _ !” 

Betty had collapsed into such a giggle fit that she couldn’t breathe. Her whole body felt light and free for the first time in weeks. Across the table, Jughead was watching her in wonder. He loved the way the weight lifted off her shoulders and her face lit up when she would finally let herself become distracted by happier things. He felt the urge to tell her how beautiful she was, but decided to pocket the moment for a time when she needed it more and settled for basking in the happy glow that Betty’s good mood spread across the group. 

When everyone else’s laughter died down, Betty was still giggling to herself and trying to repress hiccups. “I’m so sorry, V!” she managed to get out in response to Veronica’s good-natured glare. “It’s just so funny.” She broke off into another peal of laughter, trying to catch her breathe to smile when she felt Jughead reach under the table to lay a hand on her knee—his silent way of telling her he thought she was the most beautiful creature to walk the earth. 

“Okay, B,” Veronica huffed. “I think it’s only fair you share your first kiss details now. You all grew up together and know everything about everyone. You’d best share with your new favorite out-of-towner.” 

Betty was gasping for breath between giggles. When she finally recovered, Veronica was looking at her expectantly, one perfect eyebrow delicately arched in anticipation. On the other side of the table, Jughead too was waiting for her response, curious whether Betty was willing to share the details of that day in the Andrews’ kitchen. 

“It was Jughead,” Betty replied simply. Veronica seemed satisfied, if not slightly disappointed, by the response but appeared as though she’d let it go. “Alright what about you all—” 

“ _ Wait a second,”  _ Kevin narrowed his eyes at Betty. “You guys have been a thing for what, a few weeks now? He can’t have been your first kiss. Because Dilton Doiley kissed you during spin the bottle freshman year.” 

Betty went very, very red. “Intrigue!” said Veronica, looking at Betty’s flushed face. Jughead made a mental note that he very much liked embarrassed Betty. Betty vacillated between her Alice-Cooper-proof smile and the completely vulnerable interior, that Jughead had only witnessed twice—right before he kissed her in her room and when she asked him about that day in seventh grade. It was almost unheard of for anything between those two to surface. Flustered Betty was kind of fun. It was a new Betty to discover the ins and outs of. 

Setting her jaw, but still a bright shade of scarlet, Betty opened her mouth in response. “Well, maybe we kissed before a few weeks ago, and before Dilton ambushed me last year.” 

Kevin looked positively delighted. Veronica let out a screech. Archie was looking dumbly between his two best friends. “ _ What? When?!”  _ Veronica was about to leap out of her seat in excitement. 

Trying to save Betty from the situation she clearly had not anticipated, Jughead cleared his throat and jumped in. “Seventh grade.” 

“Oh. My. God.” It seemed as though Veronica didn’t know which of the two to pounce on for details, but she focused on Jughead since he had been the last one to speak. “Tell me everything.” 

Jughead made a face and a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat. “No, thanks.” 

As she opened her mouth to dispute his stubbornness, Kevin came to their rescue. “We’ll get it out of them eventually. What I want to know is what Mr. Sam Stafford did to split your lip so badly.” 

Betty threw him a grateful look and Jughead’s shoulder dropped their tension. Evidently distracted at the opportunity to tell her story, Veronica launched into a diatribe to set the scene. As the rest of the table hung onto her every word, Betty reached for Jughead’s hand over the table. He took it and gently swept his thumb across her knuckles. She smiled at him and squeeze his hand tighter. 

When Betty turned back to Veronica, only Kevin saw Jughead’s face out of the corner of his eye. He was looking at her like she hung the moon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just couldn't get this canon-era bug out of my head, so hope y'all enjoyed. I'm really enjoying being back in the fic world. I think I'll stick around a while.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh man. This fandom has sucked me back into fan fiction HARD. I haven't written fic in years, so I'll just drop this and run away now.


End file.
